


The Aftermath of Storms

by dreamingunderthetstars



Series: Soaring Crows & Fallen Crowns [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 22:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5066890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingunderthetstars/pseuds/dreamingunderthetstars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Shouyou was a storm of sunshine and passion, than his other half would be, perhaps, the calm before a storm, the tranquility of a perfect day—or, maybe, they’d be a different storm, a hurricane, blowing through Shouyou’s world with sharp, edgy words. Whether they be the calmness or the calamity, Shouyou will love them regardless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Aftermath of Storms

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve always wanted to try out this Soulmate AU, especially for one of my favorite mangas/animes. So here’s the watered down gist of it: 
> 
> • You can hear the thoughts of your other half, but not every single thing. Mostly the thoughts that are strong enough to pass through the bond.  
> • Some people are able to telepathically speak to one another through these bonds (called a Two-Way).  
> • Some rare bonds are able to transmit emotions.  
> • It is possible to not meet your soulmate or not have a romantic relationship with them. 
> 
> I don’t own Haikyuu!! No copyright infringement intended. All rights reserved to Furudate Haruichi. I apologize if there are any inaccuracies or if I got something messed up in Japanese culture. I do not intend to offend anyone. Sorry for any spelling/grammatical errors; this work is Beta’d by myself. Hope you enjoy it!

**_Don’t leave me…don’t leave us…stay…please…_ **

The thoughts enter Shouyou’s mind, accompanying with a near engulfing emotion that made him fall to his knees, trembling. It’s a Saturday and Natsu is still sleeping in her room, and his mother is humming in the kitchen making breakfast. Before, Shouyou never gave soulmates much thought. His other half was so fleeting, rarely there, with a burst of happiness or determination or loneliness. He remembered feeling a strong burst of anger once, the first time he ever empathically communicated with his soulmate, and it made his vision bleed red for a minute until Shouyou’s panic made them calm down from their irrationality.

**It’s okay,** Shouyou whispers in his mind, shaking fingers gripping the side of his desk as a means to anchor him down to earth. **I’m here. I’m not going to leave you.**

It’s the first time Shouyou has ever consciously sent a message to his soulmate, usually only having enough time to transmit a positive emotion over their maturing bond whenever feelings of loneliness and sadness and anger wash over him. It’s a ridiculous thought: the notion that the person on the other side of this bond would respond to him. It’s scarcely spoken of in lectures or written in books because of the rare occurrence. Most of the Bound aren’t able to feel the others’ emotions or even able to communicate with them in such a way. Sometimes they have a Two-Way Bond and, to Shouyou, those feel the most exhilarating and terrifying sort of bonds to have. To know the person you are fated to be with inside and out; there are no secrets, there are no epiphanies; just you and your other half.

The distress and resentment slowly recede from his chest; what once a pressuring ball tightly choking his lungs is now a light brush, whispering, against his skin.

The response is hesitant, like the emotions swirling in his other half’s chest: **_do you promise?_**

Shouyou is too shocked to respond, taking in the deep tone of voice his soulmate has. Shouyou doesn’t care that the one meant for him is the same sex. Some of the Bound are like that—more than one might think, actually, even if most settle their bonds in the direction of a platonic one. However, the bright wave of happiness and vivacity Shouyou sends through the bond is worth more than a whispered thought of promises.

**What’s your name?** Shouyou questions tentatively, feeling the urge to test out the bond placed before him by fate and the deities of love. **Mine is Shouyou.**

The reply doesn’t come. Shouyou tries to hide his feelings of disappointment and slight sadness but his mother calls to his attention for breakfast and Shouyou abandons his hope for a response for the moment to go eat breakfast with his family. Natsu sleepily eats her rice, chewing languidly yet messily at the same time. Shouyou gives her a wide, beaming smile. He loves his little sister. He would do anything for her, move the world for her if she asked, just like he would for his soulmate, for the unnamed person that he was destined to love with his entire being.

**_My name…is Tobio…_ **

Shouyou blinks as the reply enters his mind suddenly and flees at the same pace, leaving Shouyou grasping mentally at the thought, yearning for it to stay a while longer so Shouyou is able to memorize the voice, and think of the face it belongs to. His mother notices the odd look on his face, the flurry of emotions flashing over Shouyou’s eyes.

“Sho-chan?” she asks, tilting her head to the side in question. “Are you not hungry? Do you feel ill?”

“No,” Shouyou responds, taking the time to form the words on his tongue as his thoughts race with questions aiming in his soulmates’ unknown direction, knowing that there was a way for them to communicate without meeting.

“Oniichan is speaking to his soul,” Natsu cries gleefully.

Hinata Manami stares at her eldest, and only, son silently, eyes pensive and calculating. Shouyou can see the sorrow swirling in his mothers’ golden brown orbs, much like his own. Shouyou’s father had passed away when Natsu was still in the womb, and Shouyou too young to remember much except for gentle smiles and lively laughter. For as long as Shouyou could remember, his mother’s world had crumbled at her feet when she could no longer hear the thoughts of the other soul destined to be hers forever. His mothers’ forever was ripped away too cruelly, too young, and all that was left, in the end, was a casket of a corpse and decaying bones hidden underneath the soil.

Shouyou blinks the thoughts from his head. It hurt to think of his father, think of the man he can’t remember anymore. It makes him terrified of finding his soulmate, of loving his soulmate, because one day his other half, his other _soul_ is going to be ripped away from him and Shouyou would be left with dwindling memories of the past and an empty bond settling coldly in the middle of his chest.

“Do you know their name?” His mother asks softly, encouragingly, trying to hide the pain that shone so bright in her orbs.

Shouyou nods. “Tobio.”

**Heh. Tobio-chan!**

“Tobio-nii-chan!” Natsu shouts, beaming wildly.

Breakfast passes by uneventfully and Shouyou drifts to his backyard, keeping an attentive grasp on his soulmates’ fleeting thoughts and emotions. Something drastic was happening in Tobio’s life, whether good or bad Shouyou wasn’t privy to. He lays against the grass, looking at the clouds sweeping across the sky. He keeps a steady stream of calming emotions, hating the fact that Tobio was feeling so despondent. Shouyou was only nine (he didn’t know how old Tobio-chan was), and he barely knew what was in the world let alone the outskirts of the Miyagi Prefecture, so…what was so tragic?

Shouyou enters junior high with his two best friends, Izumi and Kei-chan, and is surrounded by boisterous upperclassmen boasting over their soulmates, telling their friends what their other half likes, what their name is, and how they sing songs in the shower. To Shouyou, a soulmate is a private thing, precious, and something that isn’t meant to be chatted about in echoing hallways. He keeps his opinion to himself, of course, whilst silently fuming to Tobio, who has the same complaints.

Tobio is obsessed with volleyball, and it’s evident in his thoughts whenever he’s not thinking of food, Shouyou, or homework (and sometimes there’s the odd thought about his parents which the emotions of **_regretsorrowpain_** follows with the thoughts of **_sorrymyfaultdon’tgodon’tleavemepleasecomeback_**. Tobio-chan is always silent for a few days after that, only their empathic bond is capable of calming Shouyou down from spiraling into an attack brimming with anxiety and worry). Shouyou sees the appeal to the sport but since Yukigaoka Junior High doesn’t have a volleyball club, Shouyou is unable to reciprocate his soulmates’ feelings—but it doesn’t mean that Shouyou doesn’t buy sports magazines, diligently researching all the positions and plays so that he can actually contribute to any telepathic conversation they have that revolves around the sport.

It’s March 12th when Shouyou bikes through town lethargically, gazing at the small shops and little cafés. He spots a volleyball game playing from one of the televisions a couple of elders are crowded around. The sound of successful spikes and encouraging sounds makes him draw to the game like a moth. He recognizes the uniform to be from one of the surrounding high schools – Karasuno – and watches as they stand on the national stage. Tobio is in his head once more, thoughts filtering on algebraic equations as well as the odd thought of how his third-year senpai refuses to teach him how to do a jump serve and keeps calling him “stupid” in a singing tone whenever he asks.

**What’s this senpai’s name? He’s the idiot!** Shouyou’s thought transfers before he could filter it. Majority of the thoughts passed through their bond are strong, stronger than most even, and always accompany an emotion – well, if possessiveness was an emotion than it would explain how Shouyou feels his blood boiling because _who was that asshole calling his soulmate, his Tobio-chan, an idiot?_

**_Calm down, Shouyou,_** Tobio replies instantly as feelings of amusement and slight embarrassment pool in Shouyou’s chest. **_I can learn just fine through watching._**

Over the years, Shouyou and Tobio had strengthened their mental and emotional bonds towards one another. They were able to have full-blown conversations and pinpoint what each was feeling through a storm of emotions brewing in both their chests, their souls. Tobio was always in the back of his head, and vice versa. Some thought it to be creepy, to know that someone, somewhere in the world, was hearing their private thoughts. Shouyou never minded; in fact, it made him feel a touch safer, and a little bit more loved.

Tobio starts prattling on about this senpai’s serve but Shouyou’s attention is caught by a small figure jumping across the screen, looking as though he had invisible wings stretching from his back. Shouyou’s eyes widen as he is in awe of what he’s seen. The smaller figures’ hands smack the ball perfectly, the sound resonating from the speakers, and scores a point for Karasuno. The boy had jumped and he had _grown wings_. The boy knew what it was like to soar.

“Who was that?” Shouyou asks before he can help himself. “The boy that jumped?”

“Oh, him?” said one of the elderly men, who glanced up from his newspaper. “Karasuno’s Ace, and number ten, on the volleyball team. They call him the Small Giant.”

“He sure can jump,” added another man, eyes glued to the screen.

**Small Giants. Small Giant. Flying. Soaring. Wings. Crows. Team. Ace.**

The thoughts are the speed of light traveling through his mind, which makes Tobio confused at the flutter of excitement running through Shouyou’s veins. The world seems brighter, bolder, more significant than ever before to Shouyou as he races home, trampling to his room (accidentally startling Natsu and his mother) to dive into all those magazines, the books and pamphlets, and little youtube videos of the world of volleyball.

**_Shouyou, your thoughts are rambling…what’s going on? Did something happen?_ **

Shouyou passes, feeling the hesitant nudge on their bond as Tobio tries to sense if Shouyou was feeling negative emotions at the moment. Shouyou unleashes a calming emotion before sending forth a burst of happiness and determination. **Tobio-chan,** Shouyou thinks, excited, passionate, a ball of energy, a storm, **I want to play volleyball.**

It is the beginning of a new chapter in Hinata Shouyou’s life.

His Junior High doesn’t have a male volleyball club so Shouyou makes one himself, a lonely member of one. He doesn’t mind. He has Tobio keeping him company in his mind as he learns the proper way to stretch without harming himself and practice wobbly serves against the wall. Although Tobio can’t see him, he gives advice and such, and the perspective from someone who is actually on a volleyball team helps, though practice is difficult when his friends think he’s having a silly, unpractical dream, and halfheartedly toss to him. Yet Izumi sees the passion, the purpose, illuminating in Shouyou’s eyes and gets serious, jogging with Shouyou whenever they have the time, helping him with sets and tosses even if he’s on the basketball team and doesn’t really get volleyball.

Shouyou gets to practice sometimes with the girls’ volleyball team, even if he garners odd and jealous looks from the male members (and sometimes female) whenever a certain teammate comes near him to speak of the sport or of practice. He goes to the girls’ games, cheers them on with Tobio chanting in the background. He gets help from the Neighborhood Association, and their all older and experienced, giving him ample advice and coaching. Shouyou soon finds himself getting better at receiving and spiking, and serving. He’s a bit rusty on blocking but he jumps as if his life, or someone he loves, depends on it, spurred on by natural intuition, of where to jump perfectly.

His height is a disadvantage but then one of the NA members, a man named Suzuki Minoru, pulls him aside and speaks to him of why his height can become his advantage if he doesn’t allow it to weigh him down and limit his options. Tobio is in the back of his mind, as always, agreeing with the older man, telling him that natural talent and genius aptitudes mean _nothing_ if you don’t work hard for it.

The rest of his first year is a blur of volleyball, his family, Tobio, and dreams of small giants soaring in the wind.

Shouyou and Tobio enter their second year with a hurricane, as Natsu gets her first thought from her soulmate, shrieking at three in the morning about her “soul speaker!”, and Shouyou finds out of the heavy sadness and suppressed anger swirling through Tobio. There isn’t much Shouyou can do except transmit helping emotions and thoughts in his soulmates’ direction, letting him know and understand that he isn’t alone, **I will never leave you alone,** and mental hugs even though they both yearn to see each other in real life.

Something otherworldly keeps soulmates from finding one another when they aren’t mentally, physically, ready—or, as his biology teacher likes to point out, “you aren’t _mature_ enough yet, and no, I don’t mean puberty. You entire being, your soul, must be ready to grow and nurture under the care of your other half; it must be ready to share such a responsibility of bonding with another soul. It has nothing to do with physical growth or age.”

Although Shouyou instinctively feels he’s ready to meet Tobio-chan in real life, ready to gaze into the eyes of the boy he’ll spend the rest of his life with, Tobio isn’t as certain. Shouyou is fine with that, perfectly fine, because he’ll wait a decade until he gets to see Tobio. He’ll wait for Tobio because Tobio deserves someone waiting for him. Because of Tobio not being ready, any thoughts pertaining to addresses, full names, anything dealing with clues to find one another fizzles over the bond, no matter how strong, and there’s only silence until another thought strays through.

One night during Golden Week, when Tobio was doing some Training Camp for his volleyball club, Shouyou felt a giant wave of loneliness, misery, and a boiling rage that threatened to spill over. Shouyou blinked, setting aside the latest sports’ magazine, in favor of transmitting tranquility and joy over their bond, whispering thoughts in his head that spoke to Tobio, telling him that he was here, he wasn’t going to leave, and **no, I don’t hate you. I will never hate you.**

Shouyou wants to know what happened and why his other half was feeling this way but Tobio was clamming up, refusing to think or speak of it but sometimes a stray thoughts speaking of **_Why do they hate me? What did I do? I just want to stay on the court._**

Shouyou wants to punch all of Tobio’s teammates in the face. Tobio tells him that would be a disastrous event for the both of them, and to stop being such an idiot.

Second year is filled with laughter and dreams of crows taking flight as he remembers Karasuno and the Small Giant. Shouyou tests their bond every waking moment, telling Tobio he was in Japan, in the Miyagi Prefecture, and wanted to go to Karasuno but those thoughts are muted. Shouyou sighs, understanding yet still yearning to see his other half in person for the first time. His mother gives him understanding, patient smiles whenever he grumbles about it in the morning.

“It will take time,” she tells him. “Don’t rush this, Shouyou. Tobio will come to you when you are both ready.”

“I am ready,” Shouyou insists.

His mother hums in response, staring at him with intelligent eyes that reveal nothing.

Shouyou continues with his dreams of flying and volleyball, even if the people in the hallways tell him that he’s wasting his breath and energy and to join the track club, Hinata-kun, you’re fast enough! Shouyou knows he’s fast, incredibly so, since the runs he takes around the mountain tracks give him the stamina and speed, but the thought of track doesn’t send his blood roaring in his veins with passion and wonder. It doesn’t make him feel like he’s flying.

Volleyball is where his subconscious whispers he belongs.

The Neighborhood Association still coaches him as well as a few other hopefuls too young for junior high, and he still practices with the female volleyball club. No one wants to join a volleyball club with only one member in it, a too-short one at that. Shouyou doesn’t let the harsh criticism bother him, taking it in stride and youthful exuberance, while he silently hurts behind his bright smiles and Tobio threatening to land those bullies in the hospitals and **_don’t listen to them Shouyou. You’re amazing. You’re great. You will fly one day, I promise._**

And then one hot day during the summer, where the heat billowed upwards from the sidewalk, burning the soles of peoples’ feet, Shouyou gets a call on his cell phone from an unknown number. Natsu is sitting on a pile of pillows and blankets in the living room, eyes glued to the television on some show meant for little kids to help their learning process. Tobio is at practice, and the only reason Shouyou knows that is because his soulmate is feeling a string of frustration, slight irritation, and a little bit of jubilance as he plays.

“Hello?” Shouyou answers the phone.

“Hi, is this Hinata-kun? Hinata Shouyou?” questions the person on the other end in such a formal tone that makes Shouyou’s metaphorical hackles raise.

“Yes, this is he,” Shouyou says. “May I ask who this is?”

“I’m calling to talk about your mother,” the person, distinctly male, Shouyou thinks. Tobio get the thought, which explains the ensuing emotion of confusion. “…there was an accident, Hinata-kun.”

And just like that, Shouyou feels the world burning right before his eyes.

Shouyou barely remembers the accompanying events: Natsu crying hysterically over why Shouyou’s sobbing on the floor, a neighbor hearing the shrieks and coming over to check on them, the mans’ words on the other side of the receiver, Tobio’s thoughts being rapid and concerned in his head with emotions of **_fearworryconfusion_**.

Two weeks pass by, and Shouyou is silent on his side of the bond. Tobio is concerned, teetering with worry, anxiety, and fear over what’s going on, and keeps a steady stream of thoughts that distract Shouyou when the agony becomes too sharp, too clear, for him to breathe properly. Natsu is lost but always there to wipe Shouyou’s tears away. His paternal Aunt, Hinata Momoko, whirls into Shouyou’s life, taking it in stride, and settling herself into the childhood Hinata household.

Natsu is lost, asking, “Mama? Sho-chan, where is mommy?”

Shouyou’s only response is to cry louder and hold Natsu to his chest as he aches all over and his soul grieves for the mother he’s lost, and the one Natsu will barely remember. Natsu and Shouyou are now, legally, orphans with their Aunt as their legal guardian. A month after his mothers’ death, Shouyou feels like he’s ready to tell Tobio what was going on. It’s the middle of their second year, and Tobio is still there, in the back of his mind, buzzing, murmuring, constant.

**Tobio-chan?**

The response is instantaneous, almost blinding, roaring in his ears, as well as the ball of glee and relief building in his chest, in his soul. **_SHOUYOU!!!_** Tobio shrieks deafeningly.

Shouyou laughs, for the first time in decades it seemed, and joy flutters into his soul. **Hey, you. I’m sorry for ignoring you…**

**_It’s okay. I do it to you sometimes. Are you alright?_ **

**…my mother died a few weeks ago…**

**_I’m sorry for not being there for you._ **

Shouyou blinks at the response. For weeks he’s been hearing the same thing over and over again. “I’m sorry for your loss” “your mother was a wonderful woman” “she’s in a better place now, with your father” “I’m sorry, Shouyou” “it will get better, I swear”. They’ve become so constant that Shouyou ignores it, blocking out the words, and humming and nodding when it’s time.

**_Do you want to try it? Finding one another again?_ **

Shouyou doesn’t know if Tobio is ready to meet yet but he still is, even as he is drowning in a sea of suffering. He wants to see Tobio. He wants to have a verbal conversation with Tobio. He wants to touch his soulmate, see the color of his eyes. Mentally, he thinks of his address loudly in his mind. It’s silent on the other end for a moment until Tobio responds.

**_You…you…Shouyou, you’re legit forty-seven minutes away from my house,_** Tobio replies.

Shouyou vibrates with excitement and falls off of his computer chair, causing Natsu to drift in with confusion and worry.

“Are you okay, niichan?” she asks, tilting her head to the side cutely.

“I’m fine, Natsu,” Shouyou replies, giving her a small smile. “I just fell off my chair.”

“Oh,” Natsu blinks before giggling. “Silly niichan!”

Aunt Momoko drifts in sometime after lunch, watching Shouyou space out with wide eyes sparkling in awe as he telepathically speaks to Tobio. “You seem to have a strong bond with your soulmate,” Aunt Momoko says unexpectedly, causing one of Shouyou’s response to fall short, drifting away as if lost in connection.

Shouyou gives a small smile. “Yeah, we do.”

“You and your soulmate are so lucky,” Aunt Momoko whispers, smiling wistfully.

Horror takes root inside of Shouyou, causing him to tremble. “A-aunt M-momoko, I…I…”

She sees the alarm and distress darkening over Shouyou’s features and is quick to assure him. “It’s okay, Shouyou,” she says hurriedly. “My soulmate is still alive but she fell in love with someone else along the way. We’re known as Platonic Soulmates. We weren’t born to become Bound to one another.”

It wasn’t taboo to be a platonic soulmate with your other half. It wasn’t even all that rare, actually, but it isn’t really spoken of, if ever briefly, in classrooms and such. Most people seem to think it appalling of having a friendship-based soulmate instead of a romantic one. Shouyou wasn’t one of those people—there would be no love without the beginnings of friendship. And so what if they never fell in love? It would be a strong, healthy friendship, siblinghood, that would never crumble and break.

“That’s amazing,” Shouyou replies. “You should introduce us to her sometime.”

Aunt Momoko stares at him, eyes filled with astonishment before they soften. “I will, Shouyou,” she says. “Someday.”

As his second year ends, with third year on the horizon, Shouyou feels older than before. His soul is still burdened by the heavy grief of his mother’s death but his family and Tobio are slowly healing those fresh, grotesque scars. He feels the candle inside of him burning slowly, giving light to the vivacious boy he once was and will be again, in a way. Dreams of flight and crows and little giants still whirl around in his mind, but Shouyou all but throws himself into volleyball, breathing it, living it, because he knows his parents’ would want him to be happy and he knows they would wish to see him fly.

Now that Shouyou and Tobio know where each other lives, it’s as if a wall of shyness separates their homes. Before, Shouyou yearned to see his other half but a daunting wall stands before him, one that wasn’t there before. Shouyou’s mind, as well as Tobio’s, was filled with doubt and insecurities. What if Tobio didn’t like his bright, flaming head of hair? What if he didn’t like the way he bounced on his heels or kept moving? What if he didn’t like his competitive spirit? What if Tobio didn’t like how short he was?

One day as these thoughts are rampaging through his mind, Izumi glares at him and barks, “Stop thinking so loudly, Shouyou. Geez. Your soulmate will like you, okay?”

“Okay, but what if—?” Shouyou starts but Izumi’s groan interrupts him.

“Shouyou – how about we do some sets?” Izumi asks, desperate to change the subject.

Shouyou nods and scrambles to his feet, pouting as the trick worked. The doubts were temporarily put on a shelf in his mind as volleyball bursts through his thoughts in hordes. Tobio is in the middle of math class but reminds Shouyou to stretch carefully, berating him if he got hurt because of his idiocy. Shouyou scuttles after Izumi, a beaming smile on his lips. As Izumi tosses to him, Shouyou manages to spike all but three thrown in his direction. He can feel his mind clearing, he can feel the doubts leave his mind as all of his focus is trained onto one things: volleyball.

“So when are you going to go see him?” Izumi questions as they stretch together.

Shouyou chews on his bottom lip, shrugging. “I don’t know,” Shouyou says. “I’m just…I’m scared.”

“Don’t be,” Izumi tells him. “He’s your soulmate—everything will end up okay.”

Shouyou nods. “Okay.”

They enter their third year of Junior High, and Shouyou still hasn’t seen his soulmate face to face. No one joins his volleyball club, which Shouyou expects, and Tobio has more suppressed anger building in his veins accompanying dizzying emotions such as fear, and pain, and depression. Shouyou wants to meet him, but Tobio’s response is **_no, not like this._**

Third year kicks off with more volleyball practice, Natsu sharing a telepathic Two-Way bond with her soulmate as well, and Aunt Momoko speaking to her platonic soulmate over the phone at nine in the morning, every day. Other third years are piled with schools to go to, scholarships, etc. but Shouyou already knows the school he wants to attend. He will become the next Small Giant. Shouyou attempts to make plans to see Tobio in real life, but his other half always refuses, saying he was too angry, too messed up, too broken. Every time he says those things about himself, Shouyou tells him why he’s wrong with a wave of strong, supporting emotions that never fail. His soulmate is perfect. So what if he gets angry sometimes? His asshole teammates are, well, _assholes_ (and no, Shouyou is not biased).

**What school? What school? School. School. Name now, Tobio-chan.**

**_Stop calling me –chan. I go to Kitagawa Daiichi._ **

Shouyou gets out of the bathroom and heads to the stands. The spectators’ whisper of a boy called King of the Court. A dictator, they say, someone who constantly shows aggression on the court yet is too much of a valuable player to be taken off.

“He sounds scary,” Kei-chan sighs.          

“Everyone’s scary to you!” Izumi laughs.

Kei-chan turns a dark red as he blushes. “S-shut up, Izumi!”

Shouyou laughs before turning his attention towards the match that’s about to begin. “Who’s playing?”

“Oh, um…Kitagawa Daiichi and some school I dunno,” Kei-chan tells him, looking at the players’ uniforms. “This Kings’ name is Kageyama something.”

The game began. Shouyou leans in his seat as he watched the balls fly in the air. He wants to be on that court, reveling in the feeling of belonging and victory and passion. There’s a player on the team, who’s presence is imposing, intimidating, and always noticeable. The setter. The King of the Court. The genius. Shouyou watched the game with keen eyes and noticed that, yes, the setter was very irritable but he was a perfectionist. He was possessive over his place on the court. He was tall, perilous, daunting, and oh so _beautiful._

**_Beautiful? Who?_ **

**The King of the Court,** Shouyou replies without feeling remorse for thinking of someone else besides his other half as beautiful. Tobio was beautiful, even if Shouyou hasn’t seen him in person just yet. And then his soulmate responds, causing Shouyou to freeze in shock.

**_You think I’m beautiful?_ **

**That’s you?! You’re the King of the Court? You’re Kageyama?**

**_Kageyama Tobio._ **

A wide smile crosses Shouyou’s lips. **Hinata Shouyou.**

The game lasted fifty minutes, with it Kitagawa Daiichi wining every set. Shouyou is brimming, about to burst, when Izumi grasps his wrist, looking at him with concern. “Are you alright?” he questions. “You’re legit vibrating.”

“He’s here,” is all Shouyou can squeeze out of his mouth before shrugging of his friends’ grasp and making his way out of the stands, a blur to many peoples’ eyes. Izumi and Kei-chan yelp from behind, struggling to catch up with him. Shouyou bursts outside, trying to follow the aching pull in his chest, trying to find Tobio, _his Tobio,_ when he sees dust swirling in the wake of a large bus.

**_Sorry,_** Tobio apologizes a split second later. **_Coach refused to wait – wanted to get on bus before traffic hit._**

**It’s okay,** Shouyou thinks, even if feeling a bit disappointed. **I’m just happy I got to see you.**

Izumi and Kei-chan stumble behind him, gasping for breath.

“H-hinata,” Kei-chan wheezes. “Did you find him?!”

“No,” Shouyou whispers. “But I know what he looks like…and who he is.”

“Was he from Kitagawa?” asks Izumi.

Shouyou nods. “Yeah. Kageyama Tobio.”

“The King of the Court,” Kei-chan breathes out. “So scary.”

“Stop being such a wimp!” Izumi berates.

“S-shut up! It’s not my fault!” Kei-chan defends.

Shouyou laughs, a booming sound in the distance. Happiness. Brightness. _Soaring._

Their third year has ended. A new book is opened, filled with unexplored chapters and people. Unchartered destinations and fate. A new sun gleams over the mountains, burning brightly with life, and Shouyou whoops with excitement early one morning as he waits for his soulmate to arrive. He isn’t disappointed.

“Oniichan!” Natsu shrieks ten minutes before the arranged time they agreed to meet. “Your soul is here!”

Shouyou laughs brightly as he hears Tobio’s befuddled, “…soul…?”

“Yes,” his little sister said simply. “You are oniichan’s soul, and onnichan’s is your soul.”

“She means soulmates,” Aunt Momoko greets. “Hello, Kageyama-kun. It is a pleasure to see you in person.”

“S-same to you, Hinata-san!” Tobio stammers out respectfully. Shouyou imagines him bowing. “E-excuse the intrusion.”

“It’s no problem,” Aunt Momoko replies. “Please, come in. Make yourself comfortable. Shouyou! Stop hiding and come meet your soulmate!”

Shouyou’s offense is easy to tell by the way he yelps, “I am not hiding!”

Momoko snickers as she ushers Natsu towards the kitchen to “give these two some privacy,” right as Shouyou crashes to a stop in front of Tobio. They both drink in the others’ features and body structure, memorizing each contour and hair strand.

“Hi,” Shouyou says, the first to break the silence.

“Hey,” Tobio replies, grinning softly.

It’s that one word, the only word that causes Shouyou’s legs to spring upwards before lunging in Tobio’s direction, wrapping his arms around his neck, and his legs around his waist. Tobio stumbles but manages to hold Shouyou in place without the fear of dropping him. Tears fall down both their faces as their souls entwine in their chests, binding, and they feel themselves become one, became a shared soul, a shared bond. The sun is burning brighter than Shouyou has ever seen before and he laughs against the crevice of his soulmates’ neck.

It might be too soon, too early, but Shouyou whispers, **I love you. I love you. I love you so much Tobio-chan.**

**_I love you too, Shouyou._ **

It was a beautiful, storming emotion blowing through them, this love.

Having a soulmate wasn’t as easy as the media describes it to be. Shouyou’s personality clashes with Tobio’s. Tobio gets angry easily, frustrated by Shouyou’s endless supply of energy. They fight, shouting matches that all of Japan are able to hear, but, in the end, they’re able to jump over the hurtles and smooth the rough patches. They make up and are able to converse with why they fought, what went wrong, and what they could do to fix it. Tobio had secrets hovering over his head, pertaining to Kitagawa Daiichi and why Tobio was friendless, why he hated the nickname _King of the Court._

Shouyou doesn’t pry, understanding his soulmate needs the privacy, and doesn’t respond to the swirling thoughts of **_pain. Hate this. Hate them. What did I do? Help me. I’ll fix this. I’ll fix it. Stay. Don’t go. Betrayal. They betrayed me. I betrayed them. Horrible. Setter._**

Despite his junior high years, Tobio continued to pursue his talent in volleyball with Shouyou trailing after him. They discover their ability to connect in another way during a practice match with Daichi-san, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi as they fight for their spot on the Karasuno Volleyball Team due to an impromptu fight days ago that led to the vice principals’ wig falling off because of a serve to the face (which was a complete accident). Tobio and Shouyou breathe volleyball, live for volleyball. Shouyou had dreams of flight and Small Giants, and volleyball was a way for Tobio to release his aggression building underneath his skin.

Tanaka gapes at them. “That was amazing!”

Daichi is shocked, stammering, “…H-Hinata…just had his eyes closed...”

The entire gym freezes at the statement.

“Eyes closed?”

“Impossible.”

“No one trusts someone 100%,” Narita says.

**Unless they’re soulmates,** Shouyou smirks to himself.

Tobio grins, feeling the passion burning in his blood.

“One more! One more!” shouts Tanaka as he gets fired up again. “Let’s win this, Kageyama, Hinata!”

They make it on the team. Life is a haze of happiness for Shouyou until the announcement comes from Takeda-sensei: a practice match against Aobajousai, where majority of Kitagawa Daiichi’s alumni went to. Tobio is frozen, fear and anger thrumming in his veins, even as the rest of the team rushes about them in excitement of playing against a powerhouse. On the walk to the Foothill Store, Shouyou sticks to Tobio’s side as they trail after their senpai.

**You okay?** Shouyou sends to Tobio but is afraid his message is lost amidst the storming thoughts of pre-Karasuno days rampaging in Tobio’s mind.

Their hands brush.

**_I don’t know._** Tobio whispers in his thoughts, soft and insecure.

Shouyou gives him a beaming, stretching smile. **It’ll be alright. I’m here. I won’t leave you like they did. I won’t betray you, Tobio. I will always be here.**

“Are you two childhood friends?” Yamaguchi asks them as they idle in front of the store, waiting for Daichi and Sugawara to exit with the food.

Shouyou nods but says, “Something like that.”

Ennoshita raises an eyebrow at them. “Care to elaborate?”

Before Shouyou or Tobio could respond, the captain and vice-captain exit the store with brown bags filled with goodness. The buns are distributed but Tobio shakes his head when he’s offered one. “I’m not that hungry,” Tobio says.

Tanaka insists. “You’re a growing boy, Kageyama. Take one!”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes!”

Shouyou snickers. “We’ll share,” he says before offering Tobio a bite, who gladly takes it.

The team stares at them with wide eyes until Sugawara’s own soften and he exclaims, “Oh! You two are soulmates?”

Shouyou gives a nod as Tobio steals another bite. “Yeah – I thought it was obvious.”

“You two don’t act like soulmates,” Tsukishima says. “You fight a lot.”

Shouyou shrugs. “Well…we’re in public. Besides, our personality’s crash and we’re still figuring our relationship out. We just met one another a few weeks before school began.”

“That’s so sweet,” Sugawara grinned before nudging the captain. “Remember when we met, Daichi?”

Pulling the two first years’ attention away from the third years, Tanaka questions, “What sort of bond do you two have?”

Shouyou and Tobio share a look before Tobio replies, “A Two-Way Telepathic-Empathic bond.”

They stare at the two, gawking in shock.

“Those – those are really rare bonds,” Kinoshita stammers.

Shouyou nods, “We know. Anyway, I need to get home – my aunt’s going to get worried.”

“How’s Natsu?” Tobio inquires.

 “Still shrieking about her soul at four in the morning,” Shouyou grumbles as they start walking in the direction of the Hinata household. The wind gently whispers around them with light breezes, the moon illuminates brightly as if smiling down at them, and Shouyou didn’t want to the night to end. “Do you think you’ll be okay to go to this match?”

“I think,” Tobio replies after long pause. “You remember the senpai who didn’t want to teach me his jump serve?”

“Yes,” Shouyou grumbles, still harboring feelings of anger towards that person. “What about him?”

“He’s a third year at Aobajousai,” Tobio tells him. “His name’s Oikawa Tooru.”

“I still don’t like him,” Shouyou grouses.

Tobio laughs quietly. “Who do you like from Kitagawa Daiichi anyway?”

“Those who didn’t hurt you,” Shouyou replies.

Tobio doesn’t respond but Shouyou feels the brush against his chest and hears the whispered thanks echoing in the back of his head. They walk home underneath the glowing moon, underneath the stars holding infinite wisdom. Shouyou grips Tobio’s hand, leaning against him, and smiles. The souls that are heavy on their chests entwine, dancing to a song they can’t hear, whispering words too sacred for others to be privy to.

Regardless of their clashes and their faults and Tobio’s secrets, Shouyou really did love Kageyama Tobio.

 


End file.
